Victory Sweet After Drought

There's a calendar hanging on the wall of the Holy Cross locker room. It notes the number of days since the Crusaders last won a football game. On Saturday afternoon, the counter was set back from 1038 to zero.

From the Harvard viewpoint, Saturday's loss spoiled Joe Restic's debut, ended any Crimson hopes of an undefeated season, and ruined what should have been a pleasant opening day romp over a non-Ivy patsy. Injuries to Steve Harrison, Steve Golden, Eric Crone and others added to the Crimson's nightmares.

Bully

Yet as is so often the case in an upset, the victory meant much more to the conquering underdog than the defeat meant to the vanquished bully.

Not since November 23, 1968 had a Holy Cross football team walked off the field victorious. The Crusaders' 1969 season was cut short after the first two losses of the campaign by a hepatitis epidemic among the players.

Last year, Holy Cross finished with a dismal 0-10-1 record and was outscored, three to one, by its opponents.

Most of the seniors on the squad had never experienced a varsity win.

"Our freshman team beat Boston College three years ago. Since then, things have been pretty rough. It's been a long time between wins," said senior safety Mark Becker in the Holy Cross locker room after the game.

Self-confidence

To Ed Doherty, who made his debut as a Holy Cross head coach Saturday afternoon, the win was just what was needed to instill self-confidence in his players. "With our team, winning is more of a mental than a physical thing. These kids have been losing so long that it's tough to bring them around to a winning attitude." Doherty said after the game.

Doherty claimed he had already gained his share of confidence from the Patriots' win over Oakland last weekend. "That game really gave me a shot in the arm," he said.

Doherty was surprised that his team didn't succumb to the late-game pressure. "The boys didn't think they could win, even when we were ahead. 21-9. They weren't convinced until the gun sounded," he said.

Commenting on the outstanding play of junior quarterback, Colin Clapton, Doherty said, "When practice started this year, he was way down the list of quarter backs. When he's good, he's good. When he's bad, he's awful. He was pretty good today."

Doherty's troops assumed a "winning attitude" very quickly. Less than half an hour after the game, Clapton was already looking forward to the rest of the season. "Next week, we play Dartmouth. We owe them one for last year," Clapton said.

"As a matter of fact. I guess we owe everybody one," he added.